Empowering schools to train – a new direction in teacher training.

This dissertation argues that it is within schools themselves that trainee teachers garner the most valuable information that will help them to shape their future careers. Further, in the mid 1970s, the final (county-based) teacher training colleges were closed and their duties subsumed into university education departments. In line with some more radical right wing think tanks (such as the Policy Exchange), this dissertation questions the ongoing appropriateness of teacher training being carried out within university education departments and argues that it is time to separate theory from practice and empower schools themselves to train those that will lead the profession forward in future generations. This is a challenging dissertation topic that addresses a political and pedagogical issue that has been on the political and educational ‘back burner’ since the late 1980s; one which may, today, however, be seen of increasing potential relevance given issues of costs, accountability and budget austerity.

Suggested initial topic reading:

• Driscoll, P. and Rose, J. (2012). ‘Broadening the lens: an investigation of student teachers’ changing perceptions of pedagogy following a teaching placement in a primary school in mainland Europe’, Education, Vol. 40(4), pp. 417-431.
• Griffiths, S. and Smith, A. (2011). ‘Extended services in schools: Developing resources to prepare student teachers for a rapidly changing working environment’, Support for Learning, Vol. 26, pp. 13-16.
• Wilson, P. and Bolster, A. (2011). New models of teacher education: Collaborate paired placements. Bristol: ESCalate.